The Descent of God as Fire: Pentecost and the Exodus

Sunday of Pentecost, June 4, 2017 Acts 2:1-11; John 7:32-57, 8:12 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. In his commentary on the events of that first Pentecost, the Venerable Bede, who was an English saint and Biblical scholar and commentator in the early eighth century, makes


Lent and Priesthood #2: The Priesthood of Return

Sunday of the Prodigal Son, February 12, 2017 2 Corinthians 6:12-20; Luke 15:11-32 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. We continue on this second Sunday of the pre-Lenten period to discuss our theme for the next many weeks—the priesthood. And as we meditate on the priesthood


Lent and Priesthood #1: The Priesthood of Humility

Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, February 5, 2016 2 Timothy 3:10-15; Luke 18:10-14 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. In his famous work On the Priesthood, St. John Chrysostom says this about the priesthood: “For the priestly office is indeed discharged on earth, but


The Voice Crying in the Wilderness

Today’s saintly commemoration is the conception of John the Forerunner, known to most English speakers as John the Baptist, which is narrated for us, along with his birth, in the first chapter of Luke’s Gospel. A major thematic element for today is the Voice. Zachariah, not believing the archangel, is made bereft of his voice until such time as he participates in the naming


Rhyming in Scripture: Stephen and the Flight Into Egypt

Sunday after the Nativity / Feast of St. Stephen, December 27, 2015 Acts 6:8-7:5, 47-60; Matthew 2:13-23 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Christ is born! Glorify Him! On the second day after Christmas, we celebrate the holy Proto-martyr and Archdeacon Stephen, and we hear the story


Oneness in the Church: The Key to Generosity and Good Works

Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost / Ninth Sunday of Luke, November 22, 2015 Ephesians 4:1-7; Luke 12:16-21 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Paul is in prison, and he writes to the Christians of Ephesus the beautiful words we hear today. Let’s hear them again: “I, the prisoner


Walking with Luke on the Road to Emmaus

Feast of the Apostle and Evangelist Luke, October 18, 2015 Colossians 4:5-11, 14-18; Luke 10:16-21 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. On the eighteenth of October we celebrate the holy apostle and evangelist Luke. His is one of those names we often hear in our services, but